Moving America Forward

MOVING AMERICA FORWARD

Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, I want to spend time talking about the Defense authorization bill. Before I do, I want to respond to this question, are we better off? I think it is a good question.

But the question has to be phrased: Are we better off today than we were after the impact of September 11? My colleagues across the aisle continually block out of their minds the impact of the devastating attack on American soil of September 11 and the challenges this country faced-both emotional, from the scars of the terrible loss of life, as well as the economic impact. That is the question.

Are we better off today with the Taliban not operating freely in Afghanistan? Are we better off today with Saddam Hussein no longer supporting Hamas and Hezbollah, no longer operating the torture and rape chambers?

Are we better off today fighting terrorism in Iraq rather than again back on our shores? Are we better off economically?

Mr. President, I have in front of me an article in today's Minneapolis Star Tribune, and I will refer to a couple sections. It says, in April, Minnesota broke all kinds of job records, led by the State's largest drop in unemployment, to 4.1 percent from 4.8 percent. Economists used words such as "spectacular" and "breathless" to describe the job gains they say were part of the national turnaround.

The U.S. economy added 625,000 jobs in March and April, a turnaround, I note, that was fueled by tax cuts, was fueled by bonus depreciation, was fueled by increasing expansion, fueled by lowering the top rate to give small business a tax break. The article notes that the 0.7-percent drop in the unemployment rate was the biggest since the State started keeping records in the late 1970s.

Are we better off economically today than we were after the impact of 9/11? Absolutely. With the $18,000 job decline and the number of unemployed people, also going back to the 1970s, that was 13 percent fewer than the 140,000 unemployed in March. The 4,500 new manufacturing jobs is the biggest monthly increase since the State started tracking the statistic in 1992.

Are we better off today, post-9/11, than we were right after that attack? Absolutely. Completing Tuesday's figures, success in more hiring suggests fewer firings. New unemployment claims dropped 14.1 percent in April. They talk about in this article the manufacturing sector.

We would be better off if we didn't have the other side filibustering an energy bill. We would grow more jobs. We would be better off if my colleagues on the other side were not blocking asbestos reform, if my colleagues were not blocking class action reform, so that we could grow more jobs. We would be better off if my colleagues on the other side were not blocking the appointing of conferees to the highway bill. That is a jobs bill. Have we moved forward? Absolutely. Have we recovered from 9/11? Absolutely. But rather than criticize, my colleagues should come together and stop the obstruction and blocking and let's move America forward.